Frogplate - GTD with Shadow Plan

Handling Repeating Actions

The key to handling repeating actions is to use a combination of the best parts of both Shadow Plan and the built-in Tasks application. Shadow Plan is great for planning projects, for slicing and dicing the actions, collecting together other related information and viewing the results in different ways. The Tasks application is very good at handling repeat actions and can switch between categories very easily. Shadow Plan's ToDo links can integrate the two applications into a powerful GTD system.

In essence, Shadow Plan is used to plan all of the actions. The tags don't need to be used to define contexts, but it may help to do so. I use just a single tag to identify 'Next Actions'.

In the Tasks application I have a category to represent each context - @Car, @Home, @Laptop etc. The actions listed in these categories are the 'Next Actions' to be carried out for each context. So when I sneak out to the shops at lunchtime I select the @Shops category in Tasks and that shows me the list of things I need to do at the shops today. When I get back to work, I change the category to @Work and it shows me the next actions to be carried out at my desk. Each category contains only the next actions, keeping the list simple and uncluttered.

There is also a *Scheduled category, which is used to park any scheduled or repeat actions that are not currently due. Repeat actions have entries in Tasks since Shadow Plan cannot be configured with the details of their reoccurrence. Scheduled actions have an entry so that they are remembered when I carry out my daily review of scheduled actions.

Let's step through how each type of action is handled. They are:

Ordinary actions, with no specific target date.
Scheduled actions, that have a specific target date.
Repeat actions, that are configured to recurr at set intervals.

Ordinary Actions

Ordinary actions are entered into Shadow Plan and can be moved around the outline as project needs change. When they become 'Next Actions' I hit the [Link] button at the bottom of the item's details and select 'Link to Database' in the ToDo link dropdown. The ToDo category that identifies the action's context is selected and finally the 'Next' tag is selected from the Tag Wizard. The tag isn't really necessary but makes it easy to list all the 'Next Actions' in Shadow Plan.

Adding the ToDo link means that the action will now appear in the Tasks application under the relevant context. When I mark the action as complete in Tasks it will be automatically completed in Shadow Plan too.

Scheduled Actions

Scheduled actions are treated exactly the same as ordinary actions except that when a target date is set in Shadow Plan I also add the ToDo link to the Tasks database and specify the *Scheduled category. I have the sort order in Tasks set to 'Due Date, Priority'. This means that when the *Scheduled category is displayed any due actions will be at the top of the list. At the end of each day I update Shadow Plan and then check the *Scheduled category in Tasks. I move each action due tomorrow to the category that represents its most suitable context.

An alternative to keeping linked copies of all scheduled actions in the Tasks *Scheduled category is to use Shadow Plan's 'Today's target items' filter and only link them to Tasks when they fall due. However my experience has been that it is quicker and easier to link them to Tasks at the time that the target date is first set.

Repeat Actions

Repeat actions are created in exactly the same way as scheduled actions, setting a target date in Shadow Plan and then adding a ToDo link to the *Scheduled category in Tasks. The recurrence details can then be set in the Tasks application. When a repeat of the action falls due it will appear at the top of the *Scheduled category during the daily review and can be moved to the relevant Context category.

When a Repeat Action is marked as completed in Tasks the additional step of moving its category back to *Scheduled is needed, ready for the next occurence. By the way, don't mark Repeat Actions as complete in Shadow Plan - it will cancel the action from Tasks completely, including all future reoccurences.

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